11 Facts About Colossus computer

Colossus computer used thermionic valves to perform Boolean and counting operations.

Colossus computer deduced that the twelve wheels consisted of two groups of five, which he named the ? and ? (psi) wheels, the remaining two he called µ (mu) or "motor" wheels.

Colossus computer could derive the start position of the psi and motor wheels, but this was not much done until the last few months of the war when there were plenty of Colossi available and the number of Tunny messages had declined.

The Colossus computer design arose out of a prior project that produced a counting machine dubbed "Heath Robinson".

Colossus computer was recommended to Max Newman by Alan Turing, who had been impressed by his work on the Bombes.

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Colossus computer was not impressed by the system of a key tape that had to be kept synchronised with the message tape and, on his own initiative, he designed an electronic machine which eliminated the need for the key tape by having an electronic analogue of the Lorenz machine.

Colossus computer presented this design to Max Newman in February 1943, but the idea that the one to two thousand thermionic valves proposed, could work together reliably, was greeted with great scepticism, so more Robinsons were ordered from Dollis Hill.

Data input to Colossus computer was by photoelectric reading of a paper tape transcription of the enciphered intercepted message.

However, University of San Francisco professor Benjamin Wells has shown that if all ten Colossus machines made were rearranged in a specific cluster, then the entire set of computers could have simulated a universal Turing machine, and thus be Turing complete.

Colossus computer was used to perform character counts on one-time pad tape to test for non-randomness.

The Colossus computer team were hampered by their wish to use World War II radio equipment, delaying them by a day because of poor reception conditions.